Prayers for Earthly Pleasure

 

In John 14:13, Jesus said whatever you ask in his name, God will provide. If you do not receive, it could be because you are asking for things that God doesn’t give. Be honest with yourself and with God - ask him if your prayers are for any of the reasons in these verses?  

James 4:3-4 (TLB) 4  2….And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. 4 You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies. Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies—the evil pleasures of this world—makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God.

5/17/2026

God is Able

 

Has this ever happened to you? An inconvenience, or even great tragedy, occurs.  Your reaction is irritation, up to and including great sorrow.  Later, you realize the good God made of it, maybe even a turning point in your life. That is who God is, infinitely beyond your expectations. 

Ephesians 3:20 (TLB) 20 Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.

5/10/2026

Stubborn as a Mule

 

Relying on God to show you the logistics of your life is preferable to the untenable prospects of doing it on your own.  It always works when you surrender to God first instead of finding yourself being pulled around like a stubborn mule. Like Jesus later said, “My yoke is easy.”

Psalm 32:8-10 (TLB) 8 I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress. 9 Don’t be like a senseless horse or mule that has to have a bit in its mouth to keep it in line! 10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, but abiding love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.

5/3/2026

The Weak

As weak as you physically or morally may feel, God does not take advantage of you.  The enemy does through other people. God is the Creator and giver of life. When you make him your priority, he promises to sustain and encourage you whether you are up or down. 

Isaiah 42:3 (TLB) 3 He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the dimly burning flame. He will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair. He will see full justice given to all who have been wronged.

4/26/2026

Worrying about what Others Think of You

 

If you worry about offending others, are sensitive to being “talked” about, or want everyone to approve of you, you are operating in fear of other people.  This disables the flow of God’s protection to you. Instead, trust God more than any earthly person or institution.

Proverbs 29:25 (MSG) The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.

4/19/2026

God Works in Mysterious Ways

 

Asking God “Why?” is nearly always the wrong question.  In earthly responsibilities, you ask why all the time and rightfully expect answers. With God, it is different. He lets you know “why” as he chooses. Trust that he knows the best for you, even if it seems awful at the time. 

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (TLB) 5 God’s ways are as mysterious as the pathway of the wind and as the manner in which a human spirit is infused into the little body of a baby while it is yet in its mother’s womb.

4/12/2026

The Authority of Jesus

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

When Jesus was alive, people lived in a joyless and rule-based religious system. Jesus spoke of, and demonstrated, the deep eternal love of God - a love that shows people how to get right with him. This beautiful truth applies today as much as it did then. 

Matthew 7:28-29 (TLB) 28 The crowds were amazed at Jesus’ sermons, 29 for he taught as one who had great authority, and not as their Jewish leaders.

4/5/2026

God's Firm Foundation

 

What Jesus said - The Sermon on the Mount

You are able to live in strength and confidence only as much as you know God and abide in his presence.  To develop in discernment and the wisdom of God, you must take God and his ways seriously.  When you don’t, you are left as vulnerable as a house built upon sand in a storm.

Matthew 7:24-27 (TLB) 24 “All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won’t collapse, for it is built on rock. 26 “But those who hear my instructions and ignore them are foolish, like a man who builds his house on sand. 27 For when the rains and floods come, and storm winds beat against his house, it will fall with a mighty crash.”

3/29/2026

A Transformed Heart

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

The evidence you trust God is your transformed heart. When you experience his profound love and the teachings of his son, you want to know everything about his will and his ways. You want to know and do his will day-to-day. If you don’t, you may not be right with God yet.  

Matthew 7:21-23 (TLB) 21 “Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but still won’t get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 At the Judgment many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘You have never been mine. Go away, for your deeds are evil.’

3/22/2026

Beware

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

Not everyone teaching about God is submitted to him.  Charisma or a compelling personality is not the test of a true teacher. God's character must be in them. A true teacher of God is not a perfect human being, but reflects God's ways in what they say and do.

Matthew 7:15-20 (TLB) 15 “Beware of false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart. 16 You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles. 17 Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit. 18 A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can’t produce what is good. 19 So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire. 20 Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit produced

3/15/2026

The Narrow Gate

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

If you enter and live life via the wide gate, you eventually dead-end. You will see the damage you have caused, including to yourself.  Then (not before), you will become curious about the narrow gate. This means you are ready to see things God’s way, not your way.  

Matthew 7:13-14 (TLB) 13 “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. 14 But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.

3/8/2026

Do Unto Others

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

World-wide and in all religions, the Golden Rule is a shared ethos, but the emphasis on sacrificial, redemptive and forgiving love is distinctive to Jesus. This completeness of love and relationship to God, through Jesus, is unlike any other religion or philosophy. 

Matthew 7:12 (NIV) 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

3/1/2026

If Only You Will Knock

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

God is not distant. He is always right where you are. When you truly ask, seek or knock on his door, he answers. It is man who is imperfect and hard-hearted, not God. If that is your perception of God, consider this: He chooses you and is waiting to hear from you. 

Matthew 7:7-11 (TLB) 7 “Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open. 9 If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? 10 If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! 11 And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?

2/22/2025

Pearls and Swine

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

When police try to intervene in a domestic physical fight, some victims are known to turn and attack them!  Attacker and victim become one. Not everyone is trustworthy or in their right mind. When acting in truth and holiness, not everyone will be your friend.

Matthew 7:6 (TLB) 6 “Don’t give holy things to depraved men. Don’t give pearls to swine! They will trample the pearls and turn and attack you.

2/15/2026

A Critical Spirit

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

Jumping on the faults or mistakes of others is a critical spirit.  If you go at people habitually, you may find others don't appreciate your “wisdom” and you will be right!  Jesus said to focus on eliminating your own shortcomings, as they may be worse than those you are criticizing. 

Matthew 7:1-5 (TLB) 1 “Don’t criticize, and then you won’t be criticized. 2 For others will treat you as you treat them. 3 And why worry about a speck in the eye of a brother when you have a board in your own? 4 Should you say, ‘Friend, let me help you get that speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t even see because of the board in your own? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the board. Then you can see to help your brother.

2/8/2026

Keep to One Day at a Time

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

“One day at a time” didn’t begin as a slogan in Alcoholic Anonymous. It is straight out of these verses. You can enjoy many aspects of life on this earth AND you can be free of self-destructiveness and worry. Cultivating a daily relationship with God is your part of the deal. 

Matthew 6:30-34 (TLB) 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith? 31-32 “So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, 33 and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to. 34 “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.

2/1/2026

Even Solomon in all his Glory

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

Fashion and color are linked with the colors and beauty of nature (including human nature) because nature is what inspires them.  Jesus wasn’t diminishing fashion. This was his reminder that - at source - God’s beautiful and direct creations are still the finest. 

Matthew 6:28-29 (TLB) 28 “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. 29 Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they.

1/25/2026

All your Worries

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

It takes some instruction and practice to really trust God. “What if…..?” is a legitimate question. But when asking for God’s help and making decisions, you must become comfortable with BELIEVING God knows your need and will not forsake you. 

Matthew 6:27 (TLB) 27 Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?

1/18/2026

Consider the Birds

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

You are the pinnacle of God’s creation. He provides for all he created. Strive to bask in it and trust it as nature does.  Don't worry about things - food, drink and clothes. God placed you here and provides for your earthly needs as you have relationship with him and honor his ways.

Matthew 6:25-26 (TLB) 25 “So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. 26 Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are.

1/11/2026

The Lens of God

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

Either you trust God and show it in your loyalties, or you trust other things more.  This verse says to view the things of this earth through the lens of the things of God. It simply won’t work if you put them on equal planes of importance. Trust God more than you trust anything else.

Matthew 6:24 (AMPC) 24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in).

1/4/2026

Your Spiritual Perspective

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

Spiritual perspective affects everything. If you are habitually or secretly involved with evil thoughts and desires (and God’s Word says everyone is to some extent), perspective follows suit.  Anyone who has come out of this darkness will confirm it is nowhere you ever want to be.

Matthew 6:23 (TLB) 23 But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness. And oh, how deep that darkness can be!

12/21/2025

What You Give Your Attention To

 

What Jesus Said - The Sermon on the Mount

What you give attention and focus to determines how spiritually healthy you are. A pure focus on God and his will for you produces a light and power to which nothing can compare. Losing this focus and flirting with evil thoughts and desires puts you on the road to deep spiritual darkness.

Matthew 6:22 (TLB) 22 “If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul. 23 But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness. And oh, how deep that darkness can be!

12/21/2025